Clientele supports the ‘Toyota way’
Toyota is the largest car manufacturer in the world,
selling more than nine million vehicles in over 170
countries every year. The sales and marketing for Toyota
and Lexus in the Netherlands are provided by Louwman
& Parqui B.V. from an eye-catching business complex
in Raamsdonksveer. The National Marketing and Sales
Company (NMSC) deals with vehicle marketing, sales
to 140 dealers and leasing companies and support and
training for the dealer organisation.
The distribution of the vehicles and parts is organised from Toyota
years, after which it became necessary to upgrade. Since then, the
Europe in Belgium. However, all vehicle and parts orders are col-
automation department has kept pace with the annual upgrades,
lected in Raamsdonksveer, consolidated and then forwarded to
which means that the organisation no longer has to cope with the
Toyota Europe in batches. The NSMC therefore acts as an informa-
impact of drastic changes. According to René Gommers: “The deci-
tion hub between dealers and Toyota Europe, which is clearly where
sion to upgrade Clientele was an easy one. We were very pleased
the added value of the organisation lies.
with the program. It is familiar, user-friendly and easily accessible,
as the software is entirely in Dutch. What’s more, we could modify it
The umbrella organisation Louwman Group has seven divisions,
in line with our requirements.”
including Yokohama Nederland and the leasing company Alcredis
Finance. The Louwman & Parqui division is the largest in the group
Trends increase professionalism
as regards automation. The automation department is divided into
Clientele ITSM is used for call logging, monitoring and configuration
Application Support and System Management & Network Services.
management. In addition, intensive use is made of the knowledge
System Management & Network Services consists of system and
base. It is not only the 185 employees of the Marketing & Sales
network management and a helpdesk, each with separate tasks.
organisation but also dealer staff who use the helpdesk and system
In total, it employs seven people, including System Management &
management services. All incoming telephone calls are logged at
Network Services manager René Gommers. The helpdesk is staffed
the helpdesk. No exceptions are made to this rule. “Previously, we
by two people. In total, the department manages 100 servers and
didn’t log every single phone call,” says Gommers. “Then we just
185 workstations. The organisation mostly works with SAP and
looked to see if we could resolve things on an ad hoc basis. In order
Microsoft products, as well as several specific Toyota applications.
to collect statistical information and gain insights into quantities,
These are either accessed via Raamsdonksveer or hosted.
types and time investments, we now log absolutely everything.”
After receiving an incident or question, the answer and the solution
Louwman & Parqui has already been using Clientele software since
are also logged. If a problem cannot be resolved immediately, the
1996. The organisation worked with the initial release for almost ten
current status is kept updated. “The intention is mainly for the helpdesk to function even more professionally. This was also why we
decided, at the time of the first upgrade, to separate the helpdesk
“You can’t fail to notice our passion
for cars, but we are conscious of
returns too, also when it comes
to automation.”
and system management. All our employees now have a clear task
and can focus on what they are good at.”
“We are increasing our professionalism because we can point
out trends. The questions we get asked are very varied, from an
explanation of a Word table to a major system fault, but we do also
Be clever
sometimes get clients asking when their vehicle will be delivered.
“Our knowledge base forms an important part of the service for us. We feel
it is important to be transparent in
what we do and how we do it.”
We don’t actually handle those types of calls, but we do pass them
on. Logging the calls gives us an overview of what is coming in
and, more importantly, what we are doing with it. We can anticipate
on that basis, and give feedback to the organisation. The helpdesk currently receives around 350 calls per month. 75 per cent of
will be able to retrieve information. It also makes it possible to look
those calls are resolved within one day. I think that’s a good score,
at our own requests and track their status. This is made possible by
although there’s always room for improvement.”
the Clientele web portal. It has been modified to fit in with our own
house style and is therefore very user-friendly.”
Configuration management
All devices within Louwman & Parqui are also entered in a Clientele
“We need to make sure that everything is logged accurately, in a
database. We record when they were purchased and when mainte-
way which everyone can understand. That will improve the quality
nance is required. In addition, all the people and dealers are entered
of our service. You start working at a higher level, because you
in Clientele and linked with the equipment they are using. This
know that clients can view the whole system.” The functionality of
creates an ideal situation when it comes to preparing for incoming
the knowledge base used by Louwman & Parqui is the standard ap-
calls. It means that everyone who contacts the helpdesk can be
plication. Gommers: “We try to keep things as standard as possible.
helped more quickly and efficiently. What’s more, the maintenance
We don’t always succeed completely, so there is a bit of cust-
and replacement of equipment can be planned properly, which
omisation in our Clientele package. Often it just can’t be helped.
makes it possible to work more proactively.
However, so we could quickly change over to the new version and
keep maintenance to a minimum, we opted for a standard solution.
Knowledge base
Nonetheless, we have a lot of functionalities and don’t feel that
“Our knowledge base forms an important part of the service for
we’re missing out on anything.”
us. We feel it is important to be transparent in what we do and
asked questions and solutions into the Clientele knowledge base
How does the Toyota Way translate into the
helpdesk and system management?
ourselves. We are currently in the test phase of access to this
“The Toyota Way focuses on various different spearheads, of
knowledge base, both internally and externally. It means that our
which continuous improvement, respect for people and automotive
own employees in Raamsdonksveer will soon be able to consult the
entrepreneurship form the basis. We are always working on these
database for solutions to their IT problems, but also that dealer staff
areas. These spearheads can also be found in the approach within
how we do it. Over the course of time, we have entered frequently
our organisation. We are also constantly improving our services
and professionalism. Clientele allows us to do so, and the structure
in our working methods means that we can work together better
as a team. You can’t fail to notice our passion for cars, but we are
conscious of returns too, also when it comes to automation.”
Louwman & Parqui B.V. is one of the few remaining private vehicle
distributors in Europe. Louwman & Parqui is the national Marketing
& Sales organisation for Toyota and Lexus in the Netherlands. The
company has 185 employees. In the Netherlands, Toyota has quickly
gained market share over the years and is now one of the best-selling
vehicle brands. Louwman & Parqui is based in Raamsdonksveer in a
characteristic dome-shaped building. The building also houses part
of the company’s own collection of historic vehicles.
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